Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging her defeat in the assembly election from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur is set to be heard by a single-judge bench of the Calcutta high court.
Justice is currently hearing the case. Shampa Sarkar after Justice Kausik Chanda recused himself from hearing the petition and fined the Trinamool Congress chief Rs. 5 lakh for the manner in which he sought his recusal.
At 3 p.m. today, the case will be heard via video conferencing.
Despite the fact that the TMC had won a sweeping victory in the state for the third time in a row, Banerjee lost by less than 2,000 votes to her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari.
On July 14, the court issued a notice to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Adhikari. Banerjee was also present online for the hearing. “The bench also ordered the poll panel to preserve all records, and devices, such as EVMs, and video recordings,” said a senior advocate.
“Such calculative, psychological, and offensive attempts to seek recusal need to be firmly repulsed and a cost of ₹5Lakh is imposed upon the petitioner,” justice Chanda said in his order on July 7. The money will be used to fight Covid-19, he said.
